What I used as a bucking bar was a 1"x1"x5" piece of steel that had a hole drilled in the center of one end to accept a swivel-head flush rivet set. The flush set was the kind with the red rubber around it and the rubber had been trimmed so that it was easy to hold it flush against the skin without the head of the rivet sitting proud.
So far I've only done one side of one wing but it came out pretty nice.
Avery sells a back rivet bucking bar but, it is not on their website so, you will have to call them. It has a handle and curved end so it will not mess up your skins.
I just got mine, its really a great tool.
Any bucking bar will work just fine. There is absolutely no need for anything special other than that the face needs to be very smooth so that you don't mar the skin. As always, heavier is generally better than really light.
Does back riveting the skins produce a significantly better product? Is this the same as on the tail feathers where you put the gun on the shop head side?
As I read this thread, I'm wondering if there's a mix-up. Are you thinking of the bucking bar, or the backriveting set used?
Any bucking bar with a smooth polished face will work just great. If you're wondering about the rivet set used, yes, Avery's sells a very nice 12" double-offset backriveting set that works very well for this purpose. I used it and I love it. The skins of my wings look like glass. Very smooth. Here's a picture of the combo we used:
Some people haven't had good results from this kind of rivet set, but I'll tell you what I learned. For a rivet set this long, you have to turn the air pressure way up. I used about 70 lbs, whereas normal riveting for 3/32" rivets requires about 35 psi. If you think about it, there's a lot more mass in this rivet set than in a common short one. So naturally it's going to take more muscle from your rivet gun to move it. Hence, the higher air pressure required.
I have more discussion and a lot more pictures on my web log page here:
It can, just depends on the rivet shooter's skill, technique, and/or the flush set being used. IMO it's a wash as far as finished product, but other's get better results, cosmetically, backriveting the skins--YMMV.. One pro for backriveting is that method when using a backriveting plate vs a bucking bar can allow you to shoot a skin solo that you'd otherwise need a partner for.
No need to call Avery, here is the store link to it...you just got to know how to manipulate the URL to find it. Not sure why it is not in the list of bucking bars, but it is there.
